1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to bed enclosures and more particularly to bed enclosures intended for use with persons who are prone to falling out of bed or who otherwise may need to be restrained in bed. Such bed enclosures are typically used in health care settings for persons with physical or mental disabilities. They are an improvement over bodily restraints that might otherwise be used to prevent injury.
2. Description of Prior Art
Persons with multiple mental or physical disabilities may have difficulty sleeping in a standard bed. They may not make safe choices and could thus be prone to injury. They may attempt to leave the bed when they are not physically able to safely do so, resulting in falls, or they may leave the bed and wander about, unsupervised, resulting in the possibility of becoming involved in dangerous situations. They may also be prone to self-destructive behavior, such as head banging or flailing about, leading to injury. Consequently, the need to create a safe sleeping environment is a priority for persons with mental or physical disabilities.
Bed enclosures for restraining the users are well known in the art. These include cage-like bed enclosures completely surrounding the bed, with means for entering and exiting the enclosures. These are typically complicated, permanent, expensive devices. Often the enclosures have mechanical positioning devices to raise or lower the bed, as is commonly found in hospital beds. While such devices address the principal goals of providing a safe sleeping environment, they lack the simplicity of construction, inexpensive manufacturing costs, ease of cleaning and repair, and ease of storage.
It is therefore an objective of this invention to provide an improved bed enclosure which safely restrains a person within its interior.
It is a further objective of this invention to provide an improved bed enclosure which is easy to assemble and disassemble for ease of storage and shipping.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide an improved bed enclosure which is easy to clean and repair.
It is yet a further objective of this invention to provide an improved bed enclosure which is easy and cost efficient to manufacture.